Can't say I'm very educated in new millenium Maiden (I tend to lose interest when listening to those albums) but I appreciate this thread because people are pointing out which songs they like and I'm giving these tracks a listen and rediscovering some cool stuff (and sometimes, not so cool).

Keep highlighting your favorite tracks guys, it is much appreciated!

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mjollnir wrote:

Noble Beast's debut album is way beyond MOST of what Priest did in the 80s.

I went for AMOLAD simply because it was a very mature release. Maiden all grown up.And the best part was that they didn't feel they had to stick with it. They dropped the darker tone for the next release. Loved the variation and the existential rabble of that album.

But hey, what happened to the Maiden of the 90's poll? Y'know, for those ludicrously gay people that actually liked the 90s' releases? (ME)

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LegendMaker on pointless genre dissection wrote:

Will you in turn help me classify the shemale/ladyboy, tranny/ladyboy, ladyboy-shemale/tranny, and tranny-ladyboy/shemale sub-folders of my shemale/ladyboy/tranny collection?

But for serious, I love every post-reunion album but Brave New World is easily my favorite. The Seventh Son meets X Factor sound is quite excellent and songs like Blood Brothers and Fallen Angel will always be just as good as the classics in my eyes.

Brave New World is by far my favourite. It's on par with their 80's work, and even better than some of it. It's a bit long, but the songs are all so amazing that it's easy to overlook.

Dance of Death is cool. There are some very good songs (including the amazing title track), but some others aren't all that interesting. I haven't heard much from AMOLAD, but I wasn't too impressed with what I did hear.

The Final Frontier is probably my second favourite. The last song is one of their most epic, and many other songs are great as well. This is yet another album that suffers from being way too long, but there are enough good songs to listen to it often.

This is really hard for me because I actually love the heck out of modern Maiden (possibly more than old). Normally I would go with BNW, but I'm gonna go with AMOLAD ultimately because I find it has less problems with repetition. Also, it is a very progressive album for them, with some of the most adventurous songwriting they've done particularly songs like Brighter than a Thousand Suns or Lord of Light. Plus tons of great solos, bass lines, and vocal melodies fill this album for sure. Just by a hair better than BNW which admittedly has some standouts I like more but doesn't have the same consistency.

This is yet another album that suffers from being way too long, but there are enough good songs to listen to it often.

See, I don't think an album can really be "too long" by itself. It's not a movie or a novel. "Nine-hour [insert trilogy here] marathon? Not today!" or "You haven't read [insert 2,500 page saga] yet?! Yeah bro, I have a life!" make sense. Does anyone really ever go "Sorry, guys, I can't play that song, it's on a 120 minute double-CD, you see..."? Songs can be too fucking long, boring and repetitive. Yes they can. That's the thing: if the album is looooong, it's because all the songs are. So what's there to go back to, really?

Metantoine wrote:

The 90s poll got lost in the void of mediocrity, perhaps I'll make it later though but if The X Factor doesn't win, I'll lose my shit.

In that case, don't do it, man. 'Fear of the Dark' would get more votes than the other three albums combined, that's almost a guarantee. Hell, it'd get my vote, even if most of it is embarrassing. I'll be damned if the 92% of us who didn't vote for the actual 'Killers' in the 80s poll voted for 'No Prayers for the Dying' in the 90s one, and the Bayley albums are about as popular among Maiden fans as the Martin albums among Sabbath fans. Besides, we had people in both polls who openly "voted ___ just because of that one song, haha" so... which "one song" do you think those guys will have in mind for 90s Maiden?

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Osore wrote:

I would like to hear some recommendations of black metal bands/albums that sound depressive, yet sad and melancholic at the same time.

This is yet another album that suffers from being way too long, but there are enough good songs to listen to it often.

See, I don't think an album can really be "too long" by itself. It's not a movie or a novel. "Nine-hour [insert trilogy here] marathon? Not today!" or "You haven't read [insert 2,500 page saga] yet?! Yeah bro, I have a life!" make sense. Does anyone really ever go "Sorry, guys, I can't play that song, it's on a 120 minute double-CD, you see..."? Songs can be too fucking long, boring and repetitive. Yes they can. That's the thing: if the album is looooong, it's because all the songs are. So what's there to go back to, really?

This is yet another album that suffers from being way too long, but there are enough good songs to listen to it often.

See, I don't think an album can really be "too long" by itself. It's not a movie or a novel. "Nine-hour [insert trilogy here] marathon? Not today!" or "You haven't read [insert 2,500 page saga] yet?! Yeah bro, I have a life!" make sense. Does anyone really ever go "Sorry, guys, I can't play that song, it's on a 120 minute double-CD, you see..."? Songs can be too fucking long, boring and repetitive. Yes they can. That's the thing: if the album is looooong, it's because all the songs are. So what's there to go back to, really?

I guess it depends on how you like to listen to music. When I'm messing around on my iPod, BNW is a masterpiece because I can pick out any song and enjoy it. When I'm at home and have my decent speakers, I like to listen to full albums. Sometimes I don't have 60+ minutes, and even if I do, it can be hard to sit through a lot of something if it isn't great. In this case, Maiden is pretty great, so it's not hard to listen to their new albums in full, but I still think they are too long. I'd definitely prefer more, shorter releases.

Fair enough. I'm much more song-oriented in my listening habits, I guess. I love albums that I can listen to as a whole, but they're clearly not the majority. So many albums, even great ones, have at least one track that makes me sigh when it starts (or even when the previous one is getting near the end)... I'd have to burn half my collection if I lived by a "Not all of the songs are at least good? Off with its head!" policy. Most definitely wouldn't listen to any post-88 Maiden at all if this were the case.

@Metantoine: Merci. I wonder how much the Guiness Book is likely to pay for that. On a more serious note, I wouldn't mind quite as much if it were 11 hours of standard-length individual songs. As one indivisible block, I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. Even EoS' 'Crimson', which I mostly love, gets me sleepy; and it's only 40 minutes! I stand by my length-related motto: individual songs, except under exceptionnal circumstances, should never exceed 4-5 minutes TOPS (but around 3 or less is generally better). Speaking about sleepy it's actually time to go to sleep for me. One Manticora, two Manticoras,three Manti...

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Osore wrote:

I would like to hear some recommendations of black metal bands/albums that sound depressive, yet sad and melancholic at the same time.

I feel that The Final Frontier is ruined somewhat by the track listing. Had the shorter songs been spread around the album more instead of all being at the front half of the album, it would have felt less droll. My problem is with the album as a whole. It's really tiring and boring to listen to as an album, but when each song is heard individually, especially later in the album when you get to the long songs, they're great.

Infact I use to have a relly hot friend from there but unfurtunetly the last party we have I was really wasted and grab her ass and it cause a huge problem. Her dad (that is a marine) wants to ripp my nuts... thinks are not the same...

It disturbs me slightly that people had to actually discover Maiden with these albums. Its like 'discovering' Metallica with the Black Album or Megadeth with Countdown.

So every other metal fan since 1992? A lot of people in my generation wouldn't be into metal at all if not for those albums. Of course, Brave New World was also my first Maiden album so go figure...

I was only 10 years old in 1992 when I first heard the Black Album and Countdown to Extinction. They both got me hooked and I sought out Master of Puppets and Peace Sells as my next two albums from these bands. To stay on topic though, I actually discovered Iron Maiden through the awesome artwork on the Fear of the Dark cassette tape. I actually really enjoyed the songs on that album at the time since my exposure to metal was rather limited. But, it intrigued me and my love for the band only grew as I discovered their back catalog up to that point, around 1993 I believe?

I had to vote for Brave New World as so many others have chosen. Not that I feel better being part of the majority, this album just has the best overall flow in my opinion and doesn't feel as drawn out as the others. Most of the newer albums have some stand out tracks, but as a whole are bloated with songs that are just too long for their own good. I get tired of hearing the same choruses repeated 50 times each song just to increase the track length. Ranking these 4 albums for me would be as follows: 1) Brave New World, 2) A Matter of Life and Death, 3) Dance of Death, 4) The Final Frontier.

It disturbs me slightly that people had to actually discover Maiden with these albums. Its like 'discovering' Metallica with the Black Album or Megadeth with Countdown.

Its a gateway to the good stuff i guess......

Except these albums are all good and respectable works. If you think it's comparable to those other scenarios then I don't know which albums you're hearing.

I did discover them through the self-titled though, so I heard them side by side with the original 80s classics. And I still like them all. Except Fear of the Dark and No Prayer...those albums can go to hell.

You know, as ridiculously emberrasing is Fear of the Dark as a whole, I think it would have been a great EP had it been contained only BQOBD, ATSS, CE, JBMG and the title track.

You know, that would probably made it a classic, because to me those songs stand up next to 80's and 00's maiden, but rest of the album was pretty bland and filled with fillers and weekend warrior is probably the shittiest song they made.

I hate to admit it but a small part of me agrees with this (after many listens). Out of the last four albums this is the one I would play the least. I think the album starts off very weak and I really hate the intro now. The album does get better as it progresses but I just find it weaker in comparison to the rest (excluding the Blaze material). When I last saw them live TFF material was the weakest on the night, with other newer material such as Blood Brothers etc just coming across much stronger and enjoyable.

I'm going to go with Brave New World for being a great album from start to finish and the first to convince me metal had worth as a genre. There have definitely been times where I've enjoyed Dance of Death more, though.

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John_Sunlight wrote:

Gif logos are a rare and special thing. They should be reserved only for truly exceptional and rare and special and important bands, bands like Blind Guardian and... Blind Guardian. This should be in the rules.

You know, as ridiculously embarrassing is Fear of the Dark as a whole, I think it would have been a great EP had it been contained only BQOBD, ATSS, CE, JBMG and the title track.

Absolutely. That's why it'd get my vote without hesitation in a 90s Maiden poll. "Be Quick or be Dead" alone is far superior to anything else they've done after Seventh Son. That song actually is on par with the classics, without requiring any fanboy exaggeration or wishful thinking. I also love "Judas my Guide", and the other songs you cited are all good. That make FotD more valuable than the others in my book, even if it obviously fails as an "album as a whole". 'Virtual IX' has "Futureal" and "The Clansman" which are really good, but it doesn't compare.

On a side note, I'm glad we agree on the (self-)ripoffs on recent albums. The ones you pointed out are spot on, although it's even more of a problem for me when they ape Priest or Scorpions than when they just repeat themselves (same nuance as GR recycling Keepers riffs versus GR stealing Manowar, Maiden and Priest riffs, although Maiden never did it anywhere near as much as GR).

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Osore wrote:

I would like to hear some recommendations of black metal bands/albums that sound depressive, yet sad and melancholic at the same time.

Brave New World is nearly flawless. The production makes me cringe sometimes, but the songs are so well-written I soon forget about it. And despite being over-produced, the album is full of atmosphere. I get similar vibes from Seventh Son, but maybe it's just the blue artwork. With a good album (and art), I tend to feel the colour of the cover art from the music. I saw someone post this before, but BNW is just so undeniably blue.

I can't provide too much constructive criticism in comparison to the other comeback albums though. I've only listened to AMOLAD about four times since it came out. I couldn't get into it. And I don't have TFF yet. Dance of Death was really good, but holy smokes that cover art. I have trouble feeling that when listening to the album. DOD is definitely green.

[...stuff about BNW] I get similar vibes from Seventh Son, but maybe it's just the blue artwork. With a good album (and art), I tend to feel the colour of the cover art from the music. I saw someone post this before, but BNW is just so undeniably blue.

You know, this is actually very well said. I don't know how you could come up with that kind of an analysis but thinking about it, I totally agree.

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Goatfangs wrote:

I named a praying mantis "Dio" after Dio, because he is awesome (the mantis is cool too). I even brought Dio the mantis to a metal show... so I can honestly say I was at a metal show with Dio.

It was a hard choice betwenn TFF and BNW, but I had to choose BNW. First of all, I'd like to say that all four albums are awesome, so I had to choose the "goodest of the bestest", kind of.

If it had to be in order, it would go like this

BNW > TFF > DOD > AMOLAD

Why not TFF? Because of The Alchemist and the way-too-long intro. While The Alchemist isn't a bad song in any way (actually, it's sort of a relief in the midst of what would be an overdose of epicness) it is forgettable after a while, the double-led guitars in the main riffing sections feel totally out of place and the solos offer nothing new. (The drumming and galloping bass lines are superb, though). Not much can be said about the intro on the title-track, it's simple just skippable. 8.9/10

Why not DOD? While it has some of the best Iron Maiden songs ever, it also has some of the most mediocre ones, such as Wildest Dreams and No More Lies. It feels imbalanced, in one hand, you have epic, multifaceted, inspired songs, in the other, sappy, radio-friendly, shallow songs. 8.4/10

Why not AMOLAD? Because it is TOO epic (sorry for the overuse of the word). The good thing about epic songs is the goose-bumps inducing moments. When those moments overwhelm you, the goose-bumps feeling is gone. Also, I miss some more instrumental moments, I feel that Dickinson is being "operatic" in 90% of his singning, and he's singing in the 90% of the songs, so, sometimes, you miss the instruments leading the songs. (I've got the feeling that not too many people are going to agree with me on this) 8.2/10

Why BNW? Because of its sheer perfection. The track-listing and songs composition. It's a constant, frenetic trip between epic, beautiful moments, and unleashed rawness. Like the title-track, for example. And also because of The Thin Line Between Love and Hate, the greatest song of all time.10/10